Heel construction



J. C. sTlLEs HEEL CONSTRUCTION Apr. 3, 1923.

Filed Apr.

l piece'ofthe heel construction, with the heel 55 "i plate in a .transverse 'plane Patented Apr. 3, 1923.

UNITE Vsr T?ES lASQE' `PATE Nr ortica;

JOHN C. STILES, OF STnLOUIS, MISSOURI. v

HEEL CONSTRUCTION.

Application med April 5, 1922. seriai No. 549,837.

invented new and useful Improvementsv in Heel Construction, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a heel construction for boots, shoes and slippers, and the general object of the invention is to produce a simple construction including'means for attachinga heel to the solle of the shoe which will give rigidity andfprevent any possibility of lateral rocking jof theV heel with frespect tothe sole to'- which it is attached; also to produce 'a heel construction which is inexpensive to'produce lin quantities and the parts of which are sorelatedy as to enable them vto be readily assembled in securing the heel to a shoe or slipper. The construction involves the use of a heel plate whichis se-y cured tothe sole ofthe shoe and constructed to have the heel securedto it. One of the special object sofimy invention is to provide a seat or face on which'the heel plate is supported effectively on the upper side'of 'the heel and in such4 a way as `to prevent any p'ossibility'of the heel rocking on the plate. Further objects of the invention will appear hereinafter. Y I The invention consists in the' novelffeatures, and in the general combination of parts to be particularly described hereinafter, all of which contributetoiproduce a simple and efficient heel construction. A

` preferred yembodiment of my invention will be particularly described in the following specificatio'mwhile the broad scope of my invention will bepointed out in the, appended claims. I I

` In the drawing," Y l Figure l is a plan of a heel construction vembodying my invention, that' is, it shows the heel construction as it would appear with the soleremoved from aboveit; l

Figure 2 is a vertical section through the heel construction taken on the line 2-2 of Figure yl and indicating the sole and outline of thecounte'r of the shoe in dotted lines;

Figure 3 iis a plan of the heel or body plate removed; l Y y i ,i Figurev iv is 'a cross section taken on the line 4&4 of Figure 2, and particularly illustrating the means for supporting the heel Figure 5 is a cross section taken on the line 5-5"of Figure 2'; n "A,

Figure 6 is a' bottom plan" of the'heel plate; andA l" plate. l Y v v In practicing my invention I provide a heel 1 which I'prefer to construct of metal, and in order -to give it lightness,*l provide its upper part with a chamber 2 so tli'atthe Figure 7 is a side elevation'of the 'heel heel presents an inclined rearwall 3 and a forwardly extending wall 4'. lThis heel may have any desired shape to suit'the prevailing styles.- By reason of vthe chamber 2 the upper portionof the heel is in the form of a shell.` 'A n y n 'e Supported, on thisr he'el'I provide a heel plate-5 whose'outline conforms substantially to the outline ofthejfupper side of the heel.

Inorder to provide lanfeffective support for theheel plate on the heel, I provide a transversely disposed seat @which isdisp'osed at an intermediate point onthe lupper sideof the heel; This seat is simply a face which is slightly dishedy in a transverse direction (see Figure'lf). 'In the present instancel i' construct it in the formof a bridge` cast integrally with the shell` which constitutes ,the upper portion of the heel. The heel plate 5 is slightly -dished so that it fitsclosely upon thevtransverse seat6'. If desiredof course,

this lseat could extend all the lway back to the back edge ofv the heel,"but'l prefer to form the seat' by means of abridge because this will leave a chamber 2? at the rear edge Thel upper portion of vthe heel is provided f of the heel which' also reduces -the weight. of this part. f i s o the Seat '6- Prefer to; provide' @par 0f thesesockets Y, 7 which erit'enddownwardlv in a direction substantially'parallel with the rear inclined wall 3,' `Theh'eelplate5 is constructed with means suchnaso'peniugs 8 for theattachment of nails. 9 to lsecure'the heel'plate to the rear kportion ofthe sole jl() of l"the shoe. fkThe 'heel plate'isj furtherprovided withv 'apair "of ,tongues 11 vwhich, 'may be Astruck y'integrally fr'''m'i't andwh'ichA eX- Vtend downwardly and forwardly,theconstruction being such that thesockets will operate to guide theY tongues longitudinally through' thesockyets when the heel plateis forced down, onto the' seat 6; The` heel plate preferably i has a square 'cut' forward end 12 which extends across Vthe forward portion Yof the heel and whichrests iirmly upon this part of the heel which forms a seat 13 to support it (see Figure 5.) In this way it will be seen that the heel plate is firmly supported throughout its entire width, on

the heel. After the heel plate and shoe have been attached to the heel by sliding the tongues into the sockets and firmly seating the plate as described, I then secure the heel 1 to the sole 10 by Asuitable means such as nails 14 which may be driven through three nail holes 15 provided at the forward edge of vthe heel. By reason of the fact that the tongues and sockets extend along a line passing under the seat it will be evident that the "tongues engaging as they do the upper faces 16' of the sockets will effectually prevent any rocking movement of the plate in a transverse plane. rIhat is to say, they will effectively hold the plate upon its seat 6. It will be evident that the only relative movement of the plate and heel would be that which would occur from an outward sliding' movement of the tongues in the sockets, but sucha sliding movement is eectually prevented by the nails or fastening ydevices 14. The upper faces 16 of the sockets 7 are 4preferably concave (see Figure 4) and the lower faces are curved to correspond with the curvature of `the outer faceof the heel. The tongues 11 are bent in a transverse plane so that they present their curved sides 17 uppermost. This transverse bend 0r channel shape which I give to each tongue gives it great strength and resiliency, and enables them to press tightly against the upper faces of the sockets. They, therefore, operate to hold the heel plate very snugly upon the heel kplate 6. The slightly dished shape of the heel plate increases its stiffness and also enables its edges to conform more nicely to the edges of the shell which forms the upper part of the heel. The middle and forward portion of the heel plate may be punched out so as to forma large opening f 18 which reduces the weight of theheel plate without reducing its necessary strength.

The features of construction of the heel 1 are such as to enable it to be readily produced complete as a'die-casting. This enables the complete heel construction to be produced very economically.

Itis understoodthat the embodiment of the invention described herein is only one of the many embodiments myinvention may take, `and I do not wish to be limited in the .practice ofi-my invention nor in my claims, y

to the particular embodiment set forth.

" What lann is:

1. In a heel construction, the combination of a heel, having a transversely disposed' seatlat any intermediate point on the upper Sislethereof with a socket extending forwardly and inclining downwardly from a point behind t-he seat on a line passing under the seat, a heel-plate having a tongue extending forwardly and down into the socket, said heel-plate constructed to be secured ,to the heel portion of the sole of the shoe, resting upon said seat and supported thereby and having its forward end supported on the forward portion of the heel, and means for securing the forward portion of the heel to the sole.

2. In a heel construction, the combination of a heel having a transversely disposed seat at an intermediate point on the upper side thereof, and having a. chamber extending down into its interior forward of said seat, and having a pair of sockets inclining downwardly from a point behind the seat on a line passing under the seat, a heel plate having a pair of tonguesextending vforwardly and down Ainto the sockets, said heel-plate constructed to be secured to the heel portion of the sole of the shoe, resting upon the seat and supported thereby and having its forward end supported on the forward-portion of the heel, and meansy for securing the yforward 4portions of the heel plate and the heel to the sole. I

3. yIn a heel construction, the combination ofa heel having a transversely disposed bridge at an intermediate point on the upper sidetlicreof and having a pair of sockets extending forwardly and inclining down wardly'from the upper portion of the heel along a line extending under the bridge, a heel plate constructed to be secured to the heel portion of the sole of the shoe, resting upon said bridge and supported theres byv having a. pair of tongues extending forwardly and down into said sockets, and having its forward end supported on the forward portion ofthe heel, and means for securing the heel plate to the heel.

4. In' a heel construction, the combination ofa heel having a chamber formed in its upper sidey with an inclined rearwall and a forwardly projecting wall, and having an integral bridge extending transversely across the chamber over the inclined rear wall, said bridge having sockets, a heel plate constructed to be secured to the heel portion of the sole of the shoe, seating upon said bridge and supported thereby and having a pair of integral tongues fitting into the sockets under the bridge, means for securing the forward portion of the heel plate to the sole, and means for securing the 'forward portion ofthe heel to the sole.

5. rIn a heel construction, the combination of a heel having a chamber lformed in its upper side with an inclined rear wall and a forwardly project-ing wall, a bridge extending transversely across the chamber over the inclined rear wall and having aA pair of oppositely disposed sockets extending downwardly and forwardly adjacent to the' rear wall, a heel plate constructed to be secured to the heel portion of the sole of the shoe, resting upon said bridge and supported thereby, said heel plate having a pair of integral tongues extending downwardly into the sockets, said forwardly projecting wall engaging and supporting the under side of the heel plate at the forward edge thereof.

` 6. In a heel construction, the combination of a heel having a transversely disposed seat at an intermediate point on the upper side plate having a tongue extending down into s the socket constructed to be secured to the heel portion of the sole of the shoe, resting upon said seat and supported thereby, and having its forward end supported on the forward portion of the heel, and means for securing the forward portion of the heel to the sole.

In testimony whereof, I have `hereunto set my hand.

JOHN C. STILES. 

